SXSW 2007: The Design Aesthetic of the Indie Developer

Tuesday, 13 February 2007

SXSW is the only conference I know where designers and developers
hang out. Designers have design conferences. Developers have nerd
conferences. SXSW has somehow convinced both parties to head to
Austin and actually talk to each other.

Designers and developers have a basic conflict of interest. They
both believe that they are the only parties on the organizational
chart who build real stuff. Actually, everyone on the
organizational chart believes that, but the designers and the
developers are the only ones who actually do build real things.
SORRY SALES.

That’s a great way of introducing the panel Rands is moderating next month at SXSW: The Design Aesthetic of the Indie Developer. Already on the panel are Nick Bradbury (Windows developer extraordinaire, creator of HomeSite, TopStyle, and FeedDemon), Shaun “Mint” Inman, and yours truly. One of my rules of thumb for panel ideas is whether it sounds like a topic that could be talked about all day long. This is one of those ideas.

Anyway, so (a) if you’re going to SXSW, keep your Tuesday morning free; and (b) we’re still looking for an indie Mac developer to fill out the panel — feel free to make your suggestions in the comments on Rands’s post or via email.